


Apple of his Eye

by The_8th_Arrow



Series: Fire and the Flood [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Long-Haired Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Sorting Ceremony, The Sorting Hat, Viktor's POV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-23 02:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9637772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_8th_Arrow/pseuds/The_8th_Arrow
Summary: Everything has to start from somewhere.It is unlike Newton where an apple falls on his head one day and inspires all of his works that shaped the current world.Viktor, however, well...





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a bit overdue.  
> In honor of the thousand kudos and more of [Tu meum Animum](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8892469), I give you the beginning.  
> Enjoy, guys!

Viktor stares.

He vaguely remembers having this feeling when he was younger. Way younger. He does not know why or what but it’s familiar and it’s interesting. It’s deep inside his chest, swirling and swirling like Mama’s delicious warm thick soup whenever she is cooking, thick and bottomless like his favorite sweet honey back at home and when Viktor’s head registers the feeling and its relationship with his favorite things, his mind is automatically reeled in.

He barely notices being surrounded by newly found friends when they reach the doors of the Great Hall or their simple chatters about fun facts about their new school and who to watch out for. He only has attention for one person in particular.

There is a boy over there near the end of the line with a large looking pair of glasses and a very ridiculous looking short cropped hair. He is attentively listening to his buddy beside him but he looks nervous and could not stay still like the rest of the kids near him.

It’s a wonder really why Viktor keeps on looking back and glancing at the boy who blends in the drab crowd of new students in overly large black wizard or witch robes there and it’s not like he stands out with his looks either: dark short cropped hair, wide chocolate eyes that look like it has a tinge of reddish in it, a button nose, and very plump cheeks that are really normal for kids their age. He is cute, he admits, but not entirely standing out like Viktor with his long silver hair tied in a ponytail.

And yet, he continues to stare.

Even when they are debriefed by a very stern looking professor who makes his skin crawl whenever he sweeps his eyes over their heads as if weeding out the weak and choosing over the crops with talents, Viktor still looks over his shoulder to the boy.

Well, at least they share sentiments when he sees how he got paler when the professor starts to speak and how he seems to shake with fear when they are about to enter the Great Hall.

They lined in pairs as they walk down the aisle, the eyes of countless students are on them the moment they step inside. Viktor notices various shades of emotions from their upperclassmen from happiness to scrutiny. They, too, want to know where the new ones would go. They stop at the front of a crumply and brown leather hat that rests on a chair. It must be the Sorting Hat, Viktor muses, as he stares at it with curiosity while the Headmaster speaks through them.

Until it is time for them to get sorted to their houses.

Viktor is the second one to be called. He climbs up the platform and sits on the stool while the hat is placed on the top of his head. It’s weird, actually. While his head is running a hundred miles an hour with thoughts, there is a crumply and portly looking hat speaking on top of his head.

“I’m not portly, merely crumply, boy.” The hat echoes with a sass of its own and Viktor shrinks at the amused titters of the people.

The hat, he found out, is a talkative lot and undecided as to where it will put Viktor in.

“Oh, a fine ancestry we have here and quite a powerful one, too. You are not lacking in knowledge either. In fact, you have an immense amount of wisdom put on your person. I have to commend your parental guidance here. Mm… but you are also charming, ambitious, competitive and eager to prove yourself. Where, oh, where should I put you…?”

Viktor is getting antsy with the suspense of it all and decides to let his eyes sweep quietly across the room. Once more, he finds himself staring at the same boy… who is also staring at him. He looks apprehensive and nervous judging from the balled fists in front of him and the stiff posture he is holding. For once, he feels like he wants to get this sorting over with and stride down the aisle to pull the boy to a hug.

Oh, where did that thought came from?

“It’s all in your head and your developing puberty. Now, focus.” The hat grumbles through its teeth, whispering the answer to Viktor’s thoughts and it has the boy flinching and blushing.

“Sorry…”

Does it really have to point out every thought he has? It’s so embarrassing! Viktor wishes to be sorted right away so he can mind his own business and maybe anticipate where that boy will be sorted to. He hopes it will be where Viktor is because this is the first time he feels like this for a person and maybe, just maybe, this is a sign that the boy will be interesting and Viktor likes interesting people.

So, will the Sorting Hat _please_ decide soon?

“For heaven’s sake, fine. You will be in…” The hat groans out exasperatedly and declares with a loud boom. “Slytherin!”

A wide smile erupts in his face just as he finds relief inside his chest.

Slytherin. It’s where his mother and father’s house is and the house of powerful purebloods like his family was. There might be some misconception about this particular group, a lot of magical folks saying that the people who came from there would somehow use dark and forbidden magic or they would be associated with heinous actions.

Viktor sits next to cheering seniors, welcoming him to the family with slaps on the back and a lot of handshakes.

Right. Heinous actions and dark magic? Viktor does not think so and he has seven years of schooling to prove it.

His friends, Mila and Georgi, join him soon on the table, finally happy that they have some familiar people around their age to talk to.

Then, he sees the nervous boy again.

He stumbles while going up to the platform and scrunches his eyes close just as the hat is placed on his head.

“Jittery little fellow and uncertain most of the time. You are easily disheartened and quick to lose your composure to anxiety. You are timid and afraid like a flightless little chick up on its mother’s nest. You lack confidence in yourself and tend to doubt first and think of the worst before trying.” The Sorting Hat states, almost cooing in the process as it reads the boy’s head. “Are you sure you want to be here, tiny little hatchling?”

Viktor’s breath hitches as he watches the boy nibble his lips and wring his little hands at every word the hat is saying to him. He looks so small up there, sitting on the wooden stool and looking like he wants to bolt out of this place, like a scared little pup that is stuck in one place it does not want to be in. Brows begin to furrow, his brown eyes become glossy, his cheeks becoming flushed… and Viktor thinks it’s the perfect rendition of a juicy apple.

So red, so plump, so adorable.

Come on, little boy. You can do it.

The boy’s little mouth moves a little, forming little words and seemingly whispering to himself while training his eyes up to the hat. The hat looks taken aback at what the boy had said but its crumply face contorts into an amused smirk before raising its voice again.

“By word, you have a little fire in there. It is small and untrained but given the right conditions and the right care, it will be certain that you will shine brighter than you dare to dream off. To do that, you should be in the perfect place that can nurture your hidden talents and capabilities.” The hat hums and there is hope blooming on the boy’s face. It does things to Viktor’s chest as he watches the scene unfold before him.

Is the boy going to be sorted to…? Could he?

Viktor anticipates and wishing unknowingly for the boy whose heart is so fragile to join him here under the green banner of his house.

“And that place is… Gryffindor!”

Cheers and claps surge through. The Gryffindor house is filled with students standing up to give their newest and youngest member a very warm welcome. The other first year who got sorted earlier, a bronze-skinned boy receives the other with a warm hug and laughter.

Viktor could not help but deflate on his sit, a tad bit disappointed that the boy who he finds interesting and who nearly cry while getting sorted is not sorted to Slytherin but he still claps anyway. If the hat thinks that they are fated to go to this particular house then it must be because it only has the student’s individuality in its mind.

Nevertheless, he hopes that little Yuuri Katsuki would blossom well in Gryffindor just as Viktor Nikiforov would shine in Slytherin.

 

 

He is about to take his eyes off him but those wide burgundy orbs are now staring at him somehow and Viktor freezes on his spot. They are locked on to him with curiosity and, boy, does he have courage to openly look at him straight in the eye. It’s oddly cute like a little baby staring up at him and wondering if he is friendly or not.

Did he notice he was staring earlier?

It takes a minute before the boy at the Gryffindor table who is seated oppositely from him finally blinks from his stupor – he is blushing like an apple again – and he gives Viktor a very wide, very bright toothy smile in his direction.

And Cupid must have fired a very potent arrow because Viktor’s heart skips a beat after that. It lurches painfully in his chest and begins beating once again, faster than normal. His hand finds purchase on the lapels of his robe above his heart and clenches the material there. His breathing a bit faster as well and heat collects up to his cheeks.

It’s back again. The swirling warm thick soup of Mama that Viktor loves to have during a harsh snowy night and the sweet bottomless honey he loves so much to steal from the pantry, it merges into one thing at the present because there is one person across from his seat that is nearest in the description of his favorite things.

His name is Yuuri Katsuki and Viktor thinks he is very, very gorgeous when he smiles.

**Author's Note:**

> I forgot to actually note this tidbit. Viktor can hear a lot better than a normal kid. Blame his ancestry. (Part of Tu meum Animum chapter 10 facts)  
> Kudos and Comments are welcome!  
> Find me @[luckychxrmed](http://luckychxrmed.tumblr.com/)


End file.
